Morel Mushrooms Recipes

Is there anything that screams comfort food more than a dish of gratin? I prepared a morel mushroom stuffed eggplant gratin. Every so often, our family craves a rich, decadent, gooey and cheesy meal.

First I sliced the eggplant, then pan-fried the slices. The mixture was flavored with earthy mushrooms that pair wonderfully with the meaty texture of the eggplant and luscious, creamy ricotta cheese. To save time, you can prepare the elements of the dish in advance and assemble 00000at the last minute; I promise your hard work will definitely be rewarded!

I feel super lucky to live in the Bay Area; there's such an abundance of incredible ingredients. The wide range of gourmet mushrooms available at my local market, The Milk Pail of Mountain View, makes me giddy.

The possibilities when presented with such fine ingredients are nearly endless. I could have prepared a simple, flavorful omelet, but I decided to go for a more delicate dish: vegetarianrisotto.

To do so, I used whatever the Milk Pail carried on that particular day (I didn't select everything because the prices of some of the mushrooms gave me the chills). In the end, I included fresh morels, maitake mushrooms, Hegehogs and brown crimini mushrooms. I loved how this gastronomical adventure was able to please and feed my loved ones!

This is my second most favorite chicken recipe (after my poulet rôti, "roasted chicken"). The whole idea is to use dark meat from the chicken thigh, stuff it, pan-sear the meat and finish cooking in the oven. It's as simple as that. First, I used boneless chicken (de-boning the thigh and using the bones for excellent chicken broth) and made sure the skin was still on. Then I proceeded with the tender meat. I used a preserved lemon marinade and let it rest overnight. For the filling, I combined roasted red bell peppers, Manzanilla olives, shallots and cornichons (French gherkins).

To me, cooking is an expression of love. The dish doesn't have to be complicated. Learn your basics and you'll be able to dazzle your friends and family with creative, over-the-top dishes by making a few variants of your favorite recipes.

If you're planning on serving poultry on Christmas Eve, you might want to consider this dish. I stuffed chicken with morel mushrooms, caramelized onions and season-friendly roasted chestnuts. I used chicken thighs with the skin on so the meat remained ultra moist and because boning them could be done without difficulty. The whole procedure isn't necessary but it gives the dish an attractive appearance. Once the chicken was cooked, I let it rest for 30 minutes and obtained beautiful slices of chicken roulade.

I'm definitely going to recreate this dish for Christmas, though I'm not sure which poultry I’m going to use. This recipe could be used with duck, pheasant or turkey, but I prefer goose for a holiday feast. You could also use the stuffing of your choice such as sausage, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, blue cheese, dried cranberries or bread dressing. I can't predict the future but I can tell this is going to be a delicious holiday season!

Making pasta sauce doesn't have to take hours or be difficult. I prepared a flavorful, gourmet tomato sauce combining freshly picked San Marzano tomatoes, leeks, fresh morel mushrooms and a red Thai chile with very little effort. I used it with store-bought mushroom ricotta ravioli pasta.

The temperature in the San Francisco Bay Area reached over 100 degrees this weekend and it seems the heat wave is going to continue this coming week. My husband Lulu is ecstatic because the San Marzano tomatoes he planted months ago are finally growing and ripening on the vine. San Marzano tomatoes are a variety of plum tomatoes and they're the best paste tomatoes for making sauces.